TITLE: Hidden Love
AUTHOR: Clairisant and Brenda
CLASSIFICATION: AJ/Other, AJ/Mac
FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback but please try to be kind and constructive.
CREDITS: A special thank you to our beta readers Qupeydoll and Julie.
Chapter 1
Admiral AJ Chegwidden was taking a week off work. He had a hard time remembering the last time he had taken any time off, let alone that long. But his niece was coming to town to visit him in the hopes of doing her master's degree in Chemistry, near him in Virginia. She was planning on checking out some colleges in the area during her visit, even though she still had a year before she would be ready to make that move.
JoJo, Joann Joyce, named after two great aunts, one on each side of the family, was the daughter of his twin sister Adele and his old SEAL buddy, Luke Fossen. They had met when Luke left the Navy because of a back injury, that had him walking with two canes and finally landed him in a wheelchair. He had taken a job in the private sector, overseeing the gifted student programs for the entire state of Texas.
Adele had been their lead representative to the schools for over a decade. They met in a staff meeting and the rest was history. At the age of thirty no one was more surprised than Adele when she fell head over heels in love. She had given up on dating years before and was known around the boardroom as the Ice Queen.
Until the day she met Luke. Many said it was because of his position in the company she 'fell' for him, after all it couldn't have been for his looks. At thirty-five he was prematurely gray and was walking with canes because of the back injury. Then there was the slashing scar across the right side of his face from a machete wound. For a time it was thought he might have lost his right eye, but his doctor pulled off a minor miracle and he kept it.
They had been married just over a year when Adele gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They were never blessed with any more children, but tried not to spoil JoJo because of it. Both were surprised with their daughter's intense interest in the sciences. She did so well in high school, winning science fair after science fair, that she was awarded a full scholarship to Texas University.
During her sophomore year, while she was at school, and her mother was on a business trip, Luke had a massive stroke and passed away at their home unable to get to the phone. Adele had come home from her business trip wondering why Luke had not been answering the phone for last four days and found him next to his wheelchair on the living room floor. Finding him like that caused Adele to have a heart attack and although she managed to call for help, she died the next day in the hospital.
JoJo devastated by the double loss of her parents went slightly off the deep end. She left school and traveled around, she even went a little wild, then a year ago, she decided to go back to school and finished her junior year with honors. With one year to go for her bachelor' degree, she was looking for a college that was near her only remaining family. Because that was her Uncle AJ, she was now looking for a college in Virginia. She would graduate next fall so decided to make a scouting trip with her friend Darla to visit Virginia during class break. She called Uncle AJ to say she was coming, but neglected to tell him that she was bringing a friend.
Parking the Escalade in short-term parking, AJ told Dammit to stay as he got out and went into the airport. He hated public airports, flights never seemed to be on time, they should be run more like the military.
On the plane, his niece was talking to her best friend, "I can't wait until you meet my uncle AJ, he's terrific," said JoJo leaning back in her seat.
"So what does he look like?" asked Darla.
"He is tall and handsome, but he's losing his hair."
To Be Continued...